After a spirited discussion with members of the village's Zoning Board of Appeals on Monday night, the River Forest village board decided to hold off on a vote that could allow for the continuation of front, rear and side yard setbacks that don't conform with the current zoning code.

Despite minimal freight train traffic the last few years, three crossings of the Canadian National railroad line are scheduled to be improved in River Forest next month.

The head of a local coalition knows that nobody likes to deal with the issue of growing older, but he hopes that celebrating the fact will one day help make 70 the new 50. "Nobody likes to be called a senior. What difference does it make?" said Jim Flanagan, president of the Celebrating Seniors Coalition. The group will hold its second annual Celebrating Seniors Week, May 18-25, at facilities in Oak Park, River Forest and Forest Park.

River Forest restaurant patrons will now be allowed to bring their own beverages and be served alcohol with food outdoors after the village board voted Monday night to approve updates to the liquor control ordinance. Those were among the changes OKd by the board. The first beneficiary of the more open approach will be Jesse Haggar, who with his family owns Oak Park's LaMajada Mexican restaurant.

A high-end grocery store and a retirement community were options considered last week, when a River Forest village government committee discussed what could occupy the former Hines Lumber site on Madison Street.

River Forest officials want potential developers to know that the former Hines Lumber site on Madison Street—and, possibly, the adjacent Public Works Department building to the north—are there for the taking.

A grassroots effort in River Forest will allow residents to compost their waste from block parties this summer. That means items like foods scraps and yard waste won't have to fill up the Winnebago County landfill that regular garbage is hauled to and could save the village money, organizers say.

The St. Thomas Aquinas Priory at Dominican University that has housed friars since it was built in 1926 will close in June, according to a statement released by the Dominican Provincial Office April 26.